The Cape Government Railways Railmotor of 1906 was a South African steam railmotor locomotive from the pre-
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
era in the
Cape of Good Hope.
In 1906, the
Cape Government Railways
The Cape Government Railways (CGR) was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways (SAR) in 1910.
History Private railways
The first railways at the Cape were privately own ...
acquired a single self-contained Railmotor for low-volume passenger service. The railmotor was a side-tank locomotive with a passenger coach on a single bogie as an integral part of the locomotive itself.
[Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd drawing no. 12640]
Manufacturer
A single
railmotor
Railmotor is a term used in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for a railway lightweight railcar, usually consisting of a railway carriage with a steam traction unit, or a diesel or petrol engine, integrated into it.
Steam railcars
Overview
In th ...
was delivered to the
Cape Government Railways
The Cape Government Railways (CGR) was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways (SAR) in 1910.
History Private railways
The first railways at the Cape were privately own ...
(CGR) in 1906. The railmotor was a self-contained motor-coach in which the locomotive and coach were embodied in a single vehicle, with a driver's station at the rear end of the coach for reverse running. The locomotive part was a 0-4-0 side-tank engine which was built by
North British Locomotive Company, while the coach part was built by
Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage & Wagon. It was the first steam railmotor to enter service on the CGR and was allocated the number 6, later M6.
Of the earlier vehicles in the CGR number range from M1 to M5, four were smaller petrol or petrol-electric railmotors. No. M4 was a track inspection trolley which was not used in revenue service.
[ CGR Railmotors no. M1 to M5]
Layout
The coach consisted of four sections, a compartment adjacent to the engine which could seat thirty 3rd class passengers, a central compartment which could seat sixteen 2nd class passengers, a third compartment containing two benches across the width of the coach, and a driving compartment at the rear end. To negotiate curves and points, the power unit of the locomotive pivoted like a bogie.
Service
Cape Government Railways
The railmotor was intended for low-volume passenger service and was initially placed in service on the
Franschhoek
Franschhoek (; Afrikaans for "French Corner", Dutch spelling before 1947 ''Fransche Hoek'') is a small town in the Western Cape Province and one of the oldest towns in South Africa. Formerly known as Oliphants hoek (as there were vast groups of ...
branch line. In its later years the railmotor worked a shuttle service between Bellville and Salt River.
South African Railways
When the
Union of South Africa
The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...
was established on 31 May 1910, the three Colonial government railways (CGR,
Natal Government Railways
The Natal Government Railways (NGR) was formed in January 1877 in the Colony of Natal.
In 1877, the Natal Government Railways acquired the Natal Railway Company for the sum of £40,000, gaining the line from the Point to Durban and from Durban ...
and
Central South African Railways
The Central South African Railways (CSAR) was from 1902 to 1910 the operator of public railways in the Transvaal Colony and Orange River Colony in what is now South Africa. During the Anglo-Boer War, as British forces moved into the territory of ...
) were united under a single administration to control and administer the railways, ports and harbours of the Union. Although the South African Railways and Harbours came into existence in 1910, the actual classification and renumbering of all the rolling stock of the three constituent railways were only implemented with effect from 1 January 1912.
[''The South African Railways - Historical Survey''. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978.]
In 1912, the railmotor was taken onto the SAR roster as an unclassified locomotive and was excluded from the renumbering schedules.
[Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists, issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer's Office, Pretoria, January 1912, p. 2 (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)]
Withdrawal
The railmotor's advantage of easy reversing without the need to run a locomotive around at terminals, which would require a passing loop, was offset by the major disadvantage that any down-time for locomotive maintenance placed the entire vehicle out of service. This was possibly the reason why the railmotor did not have a long service life and was withdrawn from service in 1918.
Illustration
The interior layout of the railmotor is illustrated by the
Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage & Wagon drawing of the vehicle.
CGR Railmotor no. M6 Drawing.JPG
References
{{Locomotives of South Africa
0410
0410
0-4-0+4 locomotives
B-2 locomotives
B2 locomotives
NBL locomotives
Cape gauge railway locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1906
1906 in South Africa
Scrapped locomotives